Much Ado about Scorose
by FaeVictoria713
Summary: "Much Ado About Nothing", the original romantic comedy set in the Wizarding Wolrd. With Rose and Scorpius retelling the merry war between Beatrice and Benedick. And the Claudio and Hero, or in this case Lily and Lorcan, the perfect lovers being deceited by the villain before their happy ever after. RoseXScorpius, LilyXLorcan.
1. Chapter 1

_**If you're a potterhead and love Shakespeare's comedies, You might enjoy this. I am neither J.K. Rowling nor the Bard so this obviously doesn't belong to me. My only credit is in the adaptation itself.**_

 _ **This is "Much Ado About Nothing", my favorite Shakespeare comedy, adapted to the Wizarding Universe with Rose Weasley as Beatrice and Scorpius as Benedick.**_

 _ **If you find any horrible mistakes, typos, or something like that please let me know. Review if you like, I would very much appreciate it. I will update every few weeks, but I will try to keep it going. I guess that's all you need to know. So please, go ahead and enjoy!**_

* * *

The breakfast table wherever the Potter-Weasley Clan was stationed at any given moment was always an image to behold. Amongst the chaos of dishes, food, jokes and banter, it was surprising to any outsider's eye that anything could be heard or done when they were all together. Rose Weasley pondered this while standing at the door watching her family, suitcase at her side, smiling and waiting for them to realize she had arrived. It took them about three minutes but finally her cousin Lily Potter spotted another redhead in the picture and shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear "Rose!." Lily got up and ran to hug her while everybody else stood up and created a circle of hugs, kisses and familiar touches that made her feel at home instantly.

After almost two years of having to skip family reunions for her residency at St. Mungos, she put her foot down and decided to take a very well-deserved vacation. When she learned the next Clan Escape would be in the beautiful beach of Messina she got excited and made her priority to get everything done before she left, and anyone who knew Rose Weasley knew how determined and stubborn she could be to get something done.

The last two hugs were from her loving Aunt and Uncle.

"We're so happy you're here. We've missed you," the beautiful Aunt Ginny said with her light-hearted tone.

"It's so good to see you, Rosie," Harry said, moving her to a place at the table where a plate full of pancakes and sausages had already appeared. Uncle Harry moved the chair for her to sit down. As she did, Rose noticed how strangely relax Harry seemed lately, with his worn jeans, Holyhead Harpies jersey and week-long-beard. He was always loving and caring, but without the weight of the Auror Department on his shoulders, he seemed happier.

"I know! I'm so glad to see you all. And to be quite honest this was a great excuse to get away from St. Mungos", Rose answered.

"Your parents are gonna be ecstatic too," Ginny said.

Rose's place was between Molly and Lily. and they knew to pass her the syrup and butter right away; just like when they were little girls with color coded shades of red hair. "Maybe now Dad will stop complaining about how unattached I am from the Weasleys. When are they getting here?"

"Hermione had to stay at the Ministry and…" Uncle Harry started.

"…And Dad wouldn't leave her by herself." Rose relished and envied the kind of relationship her parents had. Their love for each other hadn't faded in more than thirty years, and according to them it was because their friendship hadn't faded either. On Rose's weakest moments she wished for something like that but would never confess it out loud.

"You know them. They'll come as soon as Hermione catches a break…whenever that is," Uncle Harry shrugged and Rose smiled at him. She knew they had probably stayed behind a little longer to have some private time together, but she wouldn't give their secret away.

* * *

The hours passed fast and easy as she caught up with her relatives and answered every question they asked, from Fred and Hugo's eschatological questions to the awkward inquiries about her love life, (or lack thereof.)

She and Lily would be sharing a room, as usual, and Rose was as excited as she was worried about the situation because even though Lily was one of her closest friends and one of her favorite cousins, she could be her most annoying companion too: Lily was relentless on finding her "the perfect match."

The moment they were left alone to get Rose's suitcase upstairs and into the room Lily started the interrogation.

"So...are you seeing someone? Come on, you have to tell me! I'm the only one you can trust with these things."

"No Lily, I'm not seeing, or dating, or owling or hooking up with anyone. I barely have time to eat, let alone seeing someone."

"What?! That is no way to live! Just work and nothing else. You have to at least fancy someone."

"Nope, nobody. And... I'm gonna stop you right there. Because I know what you're thinking and I don't want you to play cupid. We know how that goes."

"All right, I accept that sending you on a blind date with Zabini was not my brightest plan. But I have learned from my mistakes. Next time I'll get you someone who's at your level, your equal."

"Lily, I'm grateful and all, but I really don't need a wizard in my life right now, he'd be just a distraction." Rose pulled out her wand and began to magically unpack her baggage while Lily sat cross legged in the bed in front of hers.

"I'm not saying you have to marry someone or that you need someone to be happy, I just think that you may be lonely. I know how I've felt since Lorcan had to go. And I just guessed that you might feel like that too…..at least sometimes."

Rose sensed the changed in Lily. She and Lorcan Longbottom had been together for three years before Lorcan had the chance to go on a specialized Auror training program to the US. They decided to stay together but in a long distance relationship while the program lasted but they hadn't seen each other in five months. They'd been very successful as far as Rose knew, but evidently the arrangement was starting to weight on Lily.

Rose put her wand aside and sat beside her cousin.

"I know you miss him and how much you love him. This must've been very hard on you both. But he only has one month left and he'll back in London before you know it. You'll be together again." Rose set her arm on Lily's shoulders and Lily sighed at the comforting gesture.

"I really can't wait to see him again, in person. But it feels like an eternity since he left. And I'm worried he may not feel the same way when he comes back."

"Has he said or done something that'd make you think that?"

"No, he's very romantic and thoughtful, and he says he misses me terribly too. I know I'm just being silly but…"

"It's okay, I think what you're feeling is normal. But he'll be back soon enough and you can start were you left of."

And like many things in the wizarding world, something changed that felt like a kind of magic.

"Girls! Come down, I have great news!" Uncle Harry shouted.

The girls shrugged and went downstairs, where they found Harry grinning like he knew the secret for the philosopher's stone, holding a letter.

"What is it, Dad?" Lily asked.

Harry cleared his throat dramatically and read out loud: "'Family! I'm happy to inform you that the Aurors in training are on our way to Messina. We finished the program so successfully that the Aurors at Macusa released us a few weeks before planned. The Longbottoms, Malfoy, me and a few others we'll be there by tomorrow afternoon. I know it's a surprise but I hope you have space because I'm really tired of sleeping in a tent. We're excited to see you all! Your favorite adopted son, Teddy Lupin.'"

"Wait! Does that mean?!" Rose and Lily said in unison, one with utter happiness and the other with utter dread.

"Yes! The Boys are joining us tomorrow and for the rest of the summer!" Uncle Harry cheered.

In another unison contradictory answer, Lily clapped and shouted "Yes!" while Rose whined a "No."

* * *

"Are we really gonna let that serpent ruin our vacation?" Rose complained and proceeded to get fire whisky, the kind that has more fire than whisky. She didn't have a plan she just knew that if she was going to deal with Malfoy she intended to keep herself hydrated.

"A serpent? What are you talking about Rose?" cousin Louis asked.

"She's talking about Scorpius Malfoy. They have this war of insults going back all the way since Hogwarts. And it seems neither time nor…..maturity has put an end to it." Uncle Harry explained.

"How can I ever shut up if he gives such good material for roasting?" Rose exclamimed proudly. "It's not my fault the leech latched itself unto our family."

"I'm confused, is he a leech or a serpent?" Lily cleverly asked.

"Take your pick. Either are disgusting slithery things so they apply."

"Rose, they've all being training really hard and they come here to relax and have some fun. Please don't make things uncomfortable for everyone. Try to be civil," Ginny pleaded. _Agh the ever diplomatic Aunt Ginny_ , Rose thought.

Hugo, Louis and Roxy, the younger wilder cousins let themselves fell into the couch in front of Rose and Lily's feet. "Who is uncomfortable? It's hilarious to see them going at it," Hugo said.

"Yeah, like watching animals fighting," Louis seconded.

"We're actually excited to see how long it takes Rose to slap him this time." Hugo was too excited about this.

"Uuuh and who spits out the first insult?" Roxy said.

"And who stays speechless first and leaves the room?" Louis added.

"You know that's not gonna be me," Rose smiled.

"That's true….. you'd had a very nice run since you graduated." Louis agreed.

"Buuut… back in Hogwarts you were a mess. Your comebacks were shit, sis." Hugo chuckled.

Rose rolled her eyes. "That was a long time ago."

"Yes, but maybe he learned some new tricks in the US." Roxy said, with a tone a little bit too dreamy for Rose's liking.

"Yeah enough to shut up even _you_ , Sis." Hugo seemed way to excited about this.

Rose had already finished her bottle so she elegantly stood up and before going into the kitchen, turned around to say "that's never gonna happen."

* * *

The very next day the friendly quidditch match they were having got interrupted by not one but many popping sounds of apparition. Everyone landed quickly to welcome the new guests, everyone except Rose who took her time. After all she was in no hurry to see Malfoy's face again.

However she got in time to see Lily and Lorcan's romantic reunion. The young man with an easy smile, dirty blonde hair and clear blue eyes suddenly had a petite, dainty copper redhead attached to his neck. Rose couldn't listen what they were murmuring to each other, but she could see how he dropped his bag and spun Lily around by the waist. Her cousin wouldn't stop giggling and Rose couldn't help smiling. Everyone looked on them with warmth, except for Lysander Longbottom, Lorcan's twin brother, whom Rose suspected was secretly in love with Lily and jealous of his brother all the way back from Hogwarts. Rose regarded the twins with affection, but she perceived darkness in Lysander's eyes that Lorcan didn't have. As far as she knew, Lysander was as good an auror and person as his brother, and yet she always felt a bit uneasy around him.

The rest of the squad carelessly dropped their luggage to the ground. From the group of seven young wizards Theodore Lupin, or Teddy as everyone called him, was the first to hug the family, starting of course, with Ginny and Harry. This tall, blue-haired with pale skin wizard Rose had known her whole life, bared no resemblance to the Potters, but since they were his godparents, he was as good as family to them, the only real difference being he lacked red hair and shared blood. She understood what seeing him meant for Uncle Harry. He had raised and trained Teddy to be the next Head Auror from the moment Teddy expressed his interest in the defense against the Dark Arts; and his first real leadership test had come when he was offered to be the Leader of the Ministry of Magic Aurors while they were training in the US. The fact that they had been so successful as to being rewarded with early vacations meant Teddy had proved himself the great leader Harry saw in him.

Rose was happy for both of them; but her smile became a sneer as soon as she crossed eyes with Scorpius Malfoy's grey ones. He was tall, though not as tall as Teddy, he was slim and built, though not as much as Lorcan, he was pale, though not as much as Lysander, he was blonde, and way too much for her taste, and he had an eternal smug exactly as she remembered. People often found him attractive, and she could admit ugly he was not; yet his attitude and arrogance wouldn't allow her to find any appeal in him. Scorpius had obviously saw her, but he refused to acknowledge her presence with any kind of greeting even though he was looking straight into her hazel eyes, and she decided to not concede into cordiality.

While Harry patted him in the back, Teddy smiled "I hope we won't cause any trouble, Uncle Harry. Do you have space in the house or should we resign ourselves to camping?"

"Not again!" Lorcan shouted finally lifting his face away from Lily's arms.

"Ha! Don't worry. We'll conjure some actual beds for you, lads," Harry responded.

"Does that include me?" Rose's teeth grind with the sound of the snake's voice.

"Of course, Scorpius. You're practically one of the clan now. You'll always be welcome wherever we are," Ginny kindly answered as she lead everyone back inside.

"Don't speak for everyone, Auntie" Rose crossed her arms and leaned against one of the kitchen windows.

Because they were the only people left outside, Scorpius teased loudly "Oh! How kind of you Mrs. Potter. I might just move in with you and your family then."

"Why are you still talking if nobody cares to listen to you?" Rose lunged first.

The silver-haired boy turned to her as if he hadn't notice her before. "What! If it isn't Lady Disdain, aka Thorn Weasley, ahem, Rose I mean. Scorning as usual…..hmmm…..I thought you'd die by now."

"How could Disdain die if you're still breathing? Any cordiality from a lady would wither at your presence."

"On the contrary, I know many ladies who bloomed at the sight of me." He kept bouncing a blonde eyebrow enjoying his own innuendo. "Except you, of course, but I'm not sure you are even capable of sweetness or tenderness…..or blooming" he continued, scanning her top to bottom, in what look more like an excuse to check her out than a glance of disgust. Rose was too busy rolling her eyes at him to notice.

"Indeed, I am. Just not with you. And I feel sorry for any woman who would be so stupid as to fall for your act."

"What act? This is all my natural charm, my Lady Thorn. Can't help it if the ladies can't get enough of me. You should've seen the lovely women who threw themselves at me in the States. They seem to be hopeless against an example of a prime English man, such as myself. They almost cried when I left, but I had to. If only I could find it in my heart to love any one of them. But I'll never fall in love. Or marry. How could I leave the world without his last great bachelor? That would be a tragedy." He walked with the motion of putting his baggage down right next to her, just to annoy her.

"A tragedy to the poor deluded woman who'd marry a snake, but such a triumph for women everywhere!" Rose nodded with faked excitement.

"Well, she'd be happier than the poor wanker who'd be curse to spend his life being scratched by your thorns."

"Scratches would be an improvement if it were your face."

"Ah! That permanently sharpened tongue…..like a whip. Just like good old times."

"And just like good all times, you can't get your mind out of the gutter. Seems like you never have enough blood in your upper head." She dismissed him by moving towards the house where they could hear the hustle of the house magically expanding.

"Why would I? The gutter is such a nice place to be. I guess you wouldn't know but you should try it, maybe it would loosen the poison out of you."

She had given him her back so without turning around she stood in the second step of the entrance, and with faked surprised replied "Wow….you haven't grow out of adolescence yet. When you can come up with something better than that we'll continue this conversation." And she went inside, swinging her hips just a little for good measure.

Scorpius stayed behind glaring for a second. He caught himself grinning but shook it off and follow suit.

* * *

Lorcan and Scorpius were given a tiny room with barely enough space for a bunk bed and a closet, but they were grateful anyway. After the very unfortunate places they've had to sleep in the last six months, a cozy bunk bed with a window inspired a sigh of relief.

Scorpius threw his beaten duffel bag on the top bed almost hitting Lorcan's head. "I'll take the top one!"

"Oi! Watch out!" Lorcan replied.

Scorpius jumped into the bed with his usual athletic easiness and from there he conjured the unpacking and ordering of his possessions. He noted Lorcan wasn't doing much unpacking, in fact he wasn't doing much of anything but stare at the window. Scorpius knew he would get like that when he missed Lily, but now that they were here, after seeing the two of them together, Scorpius couldn't get what could be bothering his friend.

"What do you think about Lily?" Lorcan broke his brooding silence and replaced it with nervousness.

"What do you mean with that? I've known her for almost as long as you have…..she's fine, I guess. Are you alright, mate?"

"Don't you think she's the most beautiful witch there ever was?"

"What?" Scorpius jumped of the bed to properly mock his friend's madness "No Lorcan! you're the sappy one."

"For me she is truly the most amazing, beautiful, funny, talented witch I've ever met," Lorcan rambled.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, mate. I mean objectively, Rose is way hotter, and she would be even more if not for her bloody character and thorns. But why are we discussing this? I hope you're not thinking something stupid like asking her to marry you or something of the sort…."He gave paused for Lorcan to deny such a ridiculous notion, but he did not, instead he chose to avoid Scorpius' judgmental look. "Lorcan….." he pressed and with a single glance from his friend Scorpius knew that's exactly what he was thinking of.

"By Merlin! You're too young; you don't even have a proper job at the Auror department yet. May I remind you that you've just finished training and you have no idea where they're going to send us? You've barely start living, why would you chained yourself to someone now?" before Scorpius could continue spitting every single con he could think of, Lorcan started to defend himself.

"Come on! It can't be this unbelievable. We've being together for a long time, and we've been friends for even longer. Yes I know we're young but our parents were too when THEY got married. And yes, I have no idea where the Ministry will send me but if I'm with her I don't really need much more, and she's a reporter so she can write from anywhere. This just feels right, Scorp. I love her; even you must understand that."

For a second they were silent standing right in front of the other. Even if Scorpius could come up with a hundred more cons, deep down he knew Lorcan love Lily Potter and that was all that mattered. But, because it was Scorpius' nature, he tried one more thing.

"What about the vow?"

"Vow? What are you…?" Lorcan looked confused and then he remembered. "Scorpius we were kids in school! We swore with butterbeer that we would never marry. You, Albus and I were shitfaced and bitter. You can't expect me to live by…"

Scorpius fully intended to keep on pushing the argument, as silly as they both knew it was but got interrupted by Teddy's entrance.

"Oi! What are you doing here when there's a table full of perfectly good food downstairs?" Teddy's relaxed tone and vibe instantly serve to calm them down.

Scorpius opened his arms fully acknowledging and pointing at the newcomer. "Here! Let's bring someone impartial into the conversation, shall we?" Lorcan shook his head discretely, Scorpius blatantly ignored him.

Scorpius strode slowly to Teddy's side challenging Lorcan to speak before him but he did not. "Captain.."

Teddy seemed amused but slightly confused by the whole situation.

"Scorpius, you know we don't use that term in…"

"Captain!" Scorpius said loudly.

"Alright…" Teddy conceded.

"Longbottom here wishes to marry Lily Potter."

Teddy's eyes widened with surprise."That is…"

"Foolish, reckless, hasty, probably regrettable."

"Amazing, mate!" Teddy smiled and opened his arms to hug Lorcan.

"What?! No! Teddy, you're supposed to advice him against it, not encourage him!" as smart as Scorpius was, he couldn't understand why he was the only outraged by the notion.

"Why would I? It's brilliant! I'm happy for you and Lily, Lorcan. I know you'll be very happy together." Teddy kept excitedly patting Lorcan's back, while Scorpius went to whine by the edge of the bed.

"Thank you. But I haven't even asked her yet. I want to find the right moment and the right way to do it."

"Of course. It has to be special. Well, has she ever mentioned something she'd like? Vicky dropped hints on her dream proposal since we first mentioned marriage. To be honest, all I had to do was following her instructions." They both laughed and Scorpius scoffed.

"No, she hasn't said anything. But we haven't seen each other in so long; I don't want her to feel pressured."

"What if you don't ask her?" Teddy wondered.

"Well, I kinda have to if I'm the one who wants to marry her."

"I mean, let me go talk to her and find out what kind of proposal she would like. That way we won't ruin the surprise when you ask her." Teddy's face glowed with the idea of being part of this. At heart, he had always being the romantic type. He wished for his friends as much happiness as he had found with Victoire; and he couldn't think of a better man for Lily than the sweet Lorcan. "I'll have the best chance to do it tonight. There's a costume party downtown and everyone is planning on going," Teddy finished.

"Ted, would you help me out?" Lorcan felt relief to found someone who was on his side.

"Sure thing, mate."

Finally, Lorcan turned to Scorpius. "See, this is the kind of support I would like from a friend."

"Scorpius, are you really not moved by your friend's love?" Teddy said.

Scorpius stopped sulking to address his case: "Affected, is what I am. Listen, Lorcan. It's not that I'm not happy for you; it's just that….I don't get the rush. You're so young, and you've only been with one girl for most of your life. You'll be missing out on so much. Why would you want to chain yourself to someone when it makes everything so difficult?"

"Of course it would be you who'd take commitment as a chain." Teddy found Scorpius resistance to love amusing, but Lorcan was a little bit worried for his friend.

Scorpius' chest puffed with pride at his statement. "Well you may try to prove me wrong, but mark my words I would be dead before I entertain the idea of getting hitched." And his friends laughed.

Teddy said: "I cannot wait to see you desperately, stupidly in love with someone."

"Yes! We'll see who the hopeless one is then. He'd probably be the worst sot of us all." Lorcan joined.

"If that happens check me for Amortentia and take me to St. Mungo's because I'm just too smart to turn into a sappy sucker like you two. But you're right about something Lupin, I don't know what we're doing here if there's food waiting for us;" with that he opened the door and fled the room whistling like he had won the argument, leaving the other two to detail their plans.

"Oh, hey Lysander." Scorpius bumped into the other Longbottom who seemed to be getting out of the room next door. What young Malfoy didn't notice was the extendable ears Lysander hid behind him. The twin just nodded and went back inside to pack the magical item.

Lysander's mind raced with anger and jealousy. He knew if Lorcan married Lily she would be forever lost to him. He hoped the distance would weaken their relationship so when they broke up, he would come back, a decorated Auror and ask Lily for a chance with someone who could truly make her happy and would never leave her side. But nothing was going according to plan. They hadn't broke up, distance hadn't help, and now Lorcan planned to ask her to marry him, and Lysander knew she would say yes because she didn't know any better, that was if he didn't do something about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter. I'll keep updating as soon as I can. The holidays were kinda crazy though.**

 **Reviews and likes are love and would help me lots.**

 **Thank you!**

 **Enjoy some party time. Because we all know Masquerades are sexy and the time where weird shit happen.**

* * *

As everyone knows you should never go to a party before having dinner, but the only ones actually following that sensible advice were Lily and Rose who stayed to dine with Harry and Ginny, while the others ran to get pre-drinks before the party. The cousins went down the stairs showing off their costumes. Lily dressed as the human version of Ariel, the little mermaid, huge blue ribbon and all. Though Lily tried her hardest to convince Rose to go as Merida, another redhead princess; she chose to go as Ellen Ripley from Alien, mainly because she preferred a jumpsuit to a dress.

They sat at the table and hurried to clean their plates, while Ginny had barely sat down and started to eat. "Girls, you're not late yet. You don't have to inhale your food."

Lily tried her best to chew and talked at the same time. "Oh we know, Mom. But everyone else is already there and we don't want to miss the costume contest."

"She is in a hurry. This is how I usually eat." Rose cut in.

"You ARE Ron's daughter." Harry chuckled.

Since her daughter and niece were old enough to manage their own table manners, Ginny opted for changing the subject. "It will be nice to have a nice and calm night in, just the two of us." She grabbed Harry's hand. He smiled sweetly back at her but got interrupted by a thought.

"Wait, are we alone? I saw almost everyone running off together, except for Lysander; I thought he might've chosen to stay in."

Rose was almost done with her supper. "Nope, surprisingly, he went to the party early with the others. It's weird; I don't think I've seen him excited or even smiling since we were very little kids. And he's never been the party type."

Lily felt the need to defend him. "He is…very introverted and quiet. But he wasn't always like that."

"When did he become so closed and melancholic?" Harry wondered.

Lily shrug, she honestly couldn't point out the moment. "I don't know. Sometime in Hogwarts, I think. But he's not a bad person."

Rose almost choked with her glass of water in her hurry to correct herself. "No, no, no, I never said he was a bad person. On the contrary, I think quietness could be a very good quality in a man. Instead of the babbling parrots who can't seem to shut up, like…..Scorpius. The perfect man would be just in the middle, a balance between Lysander's angsty silence and Scorpius' over-confidence."

"Maybe you should spell half of Scorpius' tongue into Lysander's mouth and half of Lysander's seriousness unto Scorpius' face." Harry commented as a joke but stopped to a halt when he saw Rose's mischief tinkling in her eyes. "Don't get any ideas. Or I will personally talk to your mother."

Rose deflated in her chair; _it would've been a great prank._ "Alright, I won't do anything. But you guys have to accept, a wizard like that with a pretty face and little bit of money would swoon any woman in the world."

"If those are you're expectations, Rose. I'm afraid it's gonna take a long time to meet someone to your liking." Harry scolded her niece lightly.

"Agh, Uncle Harry, you sound like my Mom, AND Lily. I don't have time to "look for someone". And even if I meet someone, often they're not worth the time away from my work. Well…..maybe the perfect man would, but since he's not around I don't think I'll ever marry. It's just not for me." She paused before continuing to clean the sauce in her plate. "Honestly, I cannot imagine myself getting married ever; and specially this young. I don't know how you guys did it. The fellows my age can't even grow a beard."

Harry and Ginny laughed at Rose's rambling but Lily perked with an idea. "Then we'll get you someone WITH a beard!"

Rose almost choked once again in her desperation to respond. "Merlin, No! I can't imagine nothing more disgusting than smooching someone with a beard. It'd be like kissing a loofah." And before Lily could retort again she continued. "And no, I don't like baby faces either. Because that's what they are: babies. Older men are….not for me and babies….mmh… I am not for them. Therefore I will live happily single. And when I die, if there's such a thing as heaven, I will ask where the bachelors are sited and there I will dance for eternity." She winked at Lily, and she giggled at Rose's jokes, partially because she wasn't entirely sure how much of this was Rose's own brand of humor and how much was actually a conscious decision she will stick to. Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny glanced at each other with a knowing smile on their faces that revealed nothing about the telepathic conversation they were having.

With her final resolution she finished the water and levitated her plate to the sink. And before her Uncle or Aunt could say anything else she declared "Ok Lily. Enough about me; let's go get your prince."

Lily stood up and went to grab her purse. Aunt Ginny walked to the door with Rose. "Honey, try to have fun tonight. You've worked so hard, you deserve it. And don't close your heart, okay? Who knows? Maybe you'll meet a prince of your own tonight." She hugged her niece and squeezed her hand.

Rose didn't had the heart to tell Aunt Lily that it was more likely to convince her Dad to turn vegan than to meet her very own prince charming that night, so she responded "I promise I'll have fun…..there's an open bar."

Lily stumbled through the door waving goodbye to her parents. Rose murmured "accio", to summon her Alien gun. "And I promise I'll bring her back in one piece." She relinquished her wand for the night to her aunt (there was no point in bringing a wand to a muggle party); and started walking to the fence where Lily grabbed her hand. They appeared one second later a block away from the party.

* * *

The party was raving. The moon was bright, the sky splashed with stars. The beach was lighted and sounded like the inside of the hottest Club. As they entered, they spotted the bar table and Rose and Lily agreed: _this is exactly what they needed._

"The girls are here." Lorcan had to move the fur of Teddy's lion mask away before talking. Teddy shouted back to the "Will Turner" next to him "What?!" Lorcan took the fancy hat off, rolled his eyes and pointed at the two redheads asking for drinks. The Lion excitedly pointed too. "Look! The girls are here!" Lorcan just chuckled; he was starting to get nervous about the plan because of how drunk Ted was, but he didn't stop him when he walked away with the confidence of tequila. Ted toasted his beer to Lorcan's red cup. "Let the plan begin!" and he roared, like Simba at the beginning of "Lion King" but roared he did.

The girls welcomed their friend with hugs and decided to take advantage of Teddy being one of the few male friends they had that actually enjoyed dancing.

A few hours into the party, Ted's dance moves had started to make more sense, but nobody was entirely sure if it was because he had sobered up a little, or they were starting to catch up.

At some point, Rose declared herself parched and went to look for actual water, instead of vodka; and Ted knew this was his chance.

"Lily! Hey, so… I've been meaning to ask for your help."

"Sure, Teddy; what do you need?" Lily responded, while still dancing.

"Well, when I proposed to Vicky last summer, I can't help feeling that it wasn't exactly what she wanted and I don't want to make the same mistake for our wedding. She's not gonna come back from France until October, and by then I want to surprise her with a few ideas or even plans. I know, you are very close, so I reckoned you could help me." Though Teddy's words were a tad smeared into each other, the mention of "Vicky" and "wedding" in the same sentence was enough for Lily to give Ted the entirety of her attention.

"Of course I will help you!" she squealed. "I have tons of ideas, and I actually have talked with Victoire about what we would like for our proposals and weddings thoroughly, so I know exactly how you could start." Lily got in her romantic wedding planner mood as she was talking. Her eyes, even in the dark of the night and the confusing colored illumination, were gleaming with determination. Ted didn't need to push much more for her to spill all the details other than take her to the side of the party and ask the right questions.

Sitting in a dry log farther enough from the speakers to actually talk, Ted discovered that Lily knew down to the embroidery of the napkins, the wedding Victoire had been dreaming of. Teddy smiled with tenderness at his surrogate little sister when he realized that they had been discussing how to make his own fiancée happy for the better part of an hour. Though he could've kept going until dawn, he wanted Lily and Lorcan to be happy too, so he tried to steer the conversation back to his original subject.

"I guess Vicky has been talking about it for years now, hasn't she?" he chuckled. "What about you? How would you like a bloke to propose? You ought to have an idea."

That question made Lily paused, she had day-dreamed about it but she felt silly saying it out loud. She took a second to turn around and watch Lorcan, her own dashing prince, standing at the edge of the sea, talking to Lysander. She could easily imagine herself spending her life with him, and that thought both excited and scared her. Lily and Lorcan locked eyes for a moment, but she blushed with her own overly romantic fantasies, and quickly went back to Teddy.

"I'll tell you, cuz you're my favorite oldest brother. Don't tell James though." Ted smiled and raised his pinky. Lily sighed and continued. "I'm not much for very public events, I find them overwhelming and tiring. I don't think I would like a big wedding. I would love a small cozy one, maybe back at the Burrow. And for the proposal…..I don't know. I guess I would like it to be a reflection of our story. Lorcan and I…..we grew up together, we became friends, and then we fell in love. So…something that reflects that journey. And Honeydukes candy, love me some candy." Lily giggled.

Teddy asked a few more specific questions but he was certain he had exactly the right idea. _Lorcan is gonna be ecstatic_ , he thought.

* * *

Earlier, Lorcan bumped into his twin who ironically wore a costume of "Prince Phillip", cape and all. He couldn't help laughing. "Look at us! A pair of dashing princes!" He hugged his brother ignoring the latter's cringing: "You look good mate. Maybe tonight we can hook you up with a Not-So-Sleeping Beauty."

Lysander fixed the non-existent wrinkles in his vest. "Yeah…..maybe. How about you? Where's _your_ sweet princess?" He tried to keep the poison to a minimum.

They had almost the same facial features, but they used them so differently for some people their relation was a surprise. In that instant, for example Lorcan's posture was relaxed but strong and straight; while Lysander, despite being the same height, walked around slightly hunched and yet he managed to gaze at his brother as if he was his inferior.

Lorcan seemed unfazed, even unaware of this attitude. "Lily? Ammmh…..in fact she's right there talking to Ted."

"Yes, I see. Wow, you truly are the better man." Lysander stood; drink in hand, next to Lorcan, with his whole body pointing at Lily and Ted. He slouched a little more, acting relaxed and casual as he enjoyed his mischief.

Lorcan kept bouncing arrhythmically to the music, but he frown at his brother's compliment. Lysander never gave anybody compliments, least of all, to him. "What do you mean?"

The twin kept putting on a nonchalant façade. "I don't think I could stand the site of my fiancée being so cozy with another man, let alone the man who was pretty much her first love."

Lorcan's attention was caught, all amusement gone."What are you talking about? I would know if…."

"If Lily used to have a crush on an extremely well-liked and accomplished auror? I reckoned you would. She tells you everything, right?"

"Ammmh….yes. I think….." Lorcan's words were tainted with doubt now.

"I'm pretty sure she had a good reason to not tell you. Maybe she feared you'd feel insecure. And I wouldn't blame you. The bloke is remarkable. We're both witnesses."

Lorcan's head went on in its own path of self-deprecation parallel to what Lysander was saying. He whispered "but Victoire…."

"Oh yes, she's a lucky girl. Everyone says so. But remember what Teddy was like before they got together?" He chuckled as if fondly remembering inside joke. "He was a player. You couldn't get the girls off of him. Remember how we use to admire him for that?"

Lorcan remembered, and suddenly his dear memories of Scorpius, Lysander, Albus and himself at the Great Hall laughing and dreaming of being that lucky with the opposite sex, turned sour. _What if Ted was still that person? What if his "help" was just a strategy to be left alone with Lily? If he had to go against Ted Lupin, he would lose her for sure._ Ideas bounced around his mind in a hurricane which only proof of existence was the tension in Lorcan's fist, the red cup about to burst and his deepening frown.

"But I'm certain he would never try anything with Lily, even if she would've liked it. Just look at them. They would make a perfect couple. And Harry would be ecstatic. We all know who his favorite is."

The red cup in Lorcan's hand exploded, not because of the pressure of his knuckles, but because of his anger mixing with his magic. The outburst had released magic but it hadn't relieved Lorcan of his anger and jealousy.

"Wow! You okay, brother? Care for another one?" Lysander laughed it off. His cheery tone wasn't free; he knew his plan was working. He knew Lorcan was affected by his words, and he knew he only had to push a little bit more. "Look how happy they are."He continued almost to himself but well aware Lorcan was listening.

Lorcan stopped patting napkins to his leather vest, he had to see it. With fear and dread he turned around and caught Lily's eyes for an instant, looking at him, she blushed and turned around to laugh with Ted Lupin whose hand held hers with familiarity. _Look how happy they are_ , Lysander had said, and he needn't more; for these were the words that kept playing in Lorcan's head, and with each track, questions borne from self-doubt. _Does she look that happy when she's with me? Could he make her happier? Did he lose her while he was away? Would Harry Potter himself preferred to see Lily with Ted than with him? It'd make sense, after all what does he has to offer? Nothing._ Then his human mind did a trick of its own, and transformed sadness and insecurity into anger and jealousy.

* * *

Unaware of Lysander's plan and assuming his mates were having the time of their life, Scorpius kept himself mingling close to the bar. In the middle of a very amusing and informative conversation with the bartender about a muggle dating app that sounded way too much like a game; he spotted Rose trying to rid herself of a very drunk cowboy who seemed to have a hard time understanding no for an answer. She might say whatever she wanted about him, but the only person who had the right to annoy Rose was him. So he excused himself and strut towards them.

He leaned to reach the cowboy's ears and with a squeaking voice, Scorpius said: "If you want a ride, I can show you my 'cowgirl'." The guy turned around already smirking, only to find a very masculine Cinderella with a blue mask filled with glitter, the cheapest messiest blonde wig that was available, red lipstick and red converse, crossing his arms and winking at him. The cowboy, who happened to be shorter than the cheap princess by a whole head, stumbled backwards as fast as his drunken legs would let him. Rose smirked and set her black combat boot in the perfect spot for the cowboy to find it. He tripped and fell ass first, beer second. The cowboy babbled something and crawled a few steps before standing up and going away.

Rose couldn't hold her laughter any longer. "That was great! Thanks, Cinderella. That guy was so annoying"

Scorpius realized Rose hadn't recognized him yet. _I can work with that,_ he thought; and went back to the squeaks. "Don't worry, honey. I got your back. I could tell you wanted to get rid of him."

"Huh, at least someone noticed. That cowboy could not take a hint." Rose grabbed a beer and gave it to the "Princess." 'Cinderella' bowed and chug half of it down. Rose raised her eyebrows with amusement and went on to chug the beer herself. The masked princess was about to take another beer from the table when he heard Rose gasped with the change of music. "I love this song! Come and dance with me!" she grabbed Cinderella's manly gloved hand and ran into the crowd.

Scorpius didn't quite know how but there he was….dancing with none other than his ultimate rival: Rose Weasley, and he was having…..fun. And judging by the great grin on her face, she was enjoying herself too. She often turned to him to shout the lyrics or to show him a silly move she had just come up with. Scorpius tried to think of the last time he had seen Rose like that: happy, relaxed, and free. He could think of only one. It was a party similar to this one, back at Hogwarts, they'd been dancing together too, without the disguises, and she looked just like this, _beautiful;_ he thought. But that was a long time ago, they were kids then. He dismissed the thought and went back to the song and its very explicit instructions: "Shut up and dance with me!" Rose sang loudly at him and he couldn't stop himself from smiling and singing back. He decided he was going to enjoy this unspoken truce while it lasted. He grabbed his puffy blue skirt and did exactly what Rose had said: 'shut up and dance' with her.

* * *

After a while, Lysander changed the subject for he knew the damage was done. Lorcan hadn't say a word in more than ten minutes, he'd chosen to brood. His brother knew the worst thing you could do to Lorcan was giving him something his mind would slow cook until the boiling point. All Lysander had to do now was to wait. So he decided to grab another cup of whisky and go to spend some time with his best mate, and one of the few people who didn't bore him to death: Ned Zabini.

Lorcan didn't notice Lysander's exit, he stood there drinking and glaring, wallowing in his doubts. Even when someone else came to converse with him, the indifference and unusual coldness he answered with repelled everyone away. Part of the enjoyment Lysander gained from this was to see the favorite son acting like people said he did. The roles had reversed.

* * *

Although Lily enjoyed spending time with Teddy, and there was a lot of catching up to do, she had barely seen Lorcan all night, and she was becoming a very restless princess.

"I can't believe I have to wait another month to see Vicky. I know it's not her fault because well…we got out earlier than expected, but when I told her she said she couldn't meet us here. I just miss her you know?" Teddy had been rambling on like this for ten minutes, and Lily was surprised to recognize the same tone and words she had used to explain herself to Rose in Teddy. It was good to know she was not the only lovey dovey around here.

Lily grabbed Ted's hand with both of hers and slowly nodded her head. "I know exactly how you feel. Believe me. That's the way I've felt about Lorcan when you guys went away….and now he's here and I just….do you know where I'm going with this?"

As brilliant as Ted was, he took a second to process her gesture. "Oh right! Of course! What are you doing here with me when you could be with your boyfriend?! Thanks Lils." He stood up, and pulled her up with him. She hugged him briefly and went to search for her love in the crowd.

* * *

"Honey, I need a drink. I'm sweating my dress off." Scorpius was still playing around with the high pitch squeaking.

Rose followed Cinderella out of the dancing area. "You know your life would be easier if you took off your mask?"

"What would be the point of a disguise then?"

"You still won't tell me who you are, huh?"

He shook his head along with his fake blonde curls.

Rose was intrigued by her new friend's attitude, but she hated being pressured into something so she wasn't going to start doing that to someone else, "fair enough." She paid the bartender for two excessively expensive bottles of water and threw one at her friend, who caught it in the air.

"Nice reflexes, princess. And don't worry, it's my treat." Rose winked at him.

Scorpius frowned and smirked at the same time, _she'd never winked at me before._ The gesture startled him. Is this the relationship they could've have if…..well if he had matured a little bit faster? Would they be good friends and they would have this kind of fun all the time? Or would they be something more? Maybe they could mend things. What he could do for now was to probe the terrain.

"Thanks honey. But how come a pretty girl like you is getting me a drink instead of someone getting you drinks?"

Rose shrugged and sighed. "I don't see many suitors around me, do you? To be honest, I'm not really interested in any relationship right now."

Scorpius-Cinderella gasped like it was a shock to him, although he had heard her say the same thing many times before. "But honey, look at you! You don't have to marry anyone here, but you can certainly have a little bit of fun." It was his turned to wink.

A sided grin painted his face, and for an instant Rose recognized something familiar about that smirk. She chose to dismiss it; Scorpius would not ruin her good time by making her paranoid. Instead she let this new mysterious friend returned to her bright mood, and she for once allowed herself to be young and care-free.

"You know what? You're right! But I won't be doing this alone. So, are you into charming princes or princesses?"

Scorpius was very much into princesses, but he figured his "Bleach Cinderella" would prefer princes.

"Princes, darling! All the way!"

Rose laughed and agreed. "We have that in common. I like to play with swords, too."

"And I bet you're good at it." Scorpius blurted out in his own voice without thinking it through.

"What did you say?" she tilted her head.

He hurriedly slipped back into his damsel voice. "Oh, that I'm very good at it;" they both laughed. "But I already got my eye on someone. Vodka soda, darling?" he continued. Rose nodded and he poured two drinks.

"And who might the lucky knight be?" she received the cup and toasted with him.

"He's so hot. He's tall, blonde, grey eyes, rocking body, and great smile. And he was so funny."

"Wow, he must be a catch. I don't think I've ever met such a man."

"Really? I thought you knew him. I saw him with some of the people you were with. He had a very curious name like a…"

"Bug?" Rose's voice changed. Apparently Scorpius was indeed going to end up ruining her good humor.

"Yes! Something like Scorp…."

"Scorpius."

"Yeah! Exactly! You do know him. Don't you find him charming?"

"Ha! Charming is not the word I'd use." She crossed her arms and hurried her drink down.

"Oh…"

"More like leech or snake. Haven't decided yet."

Scorpius felt the bite in her words, but tried to remain calmed. "He was very sweet to me…."

"That's probably because he wanted something out of you. Seriously honey, YOU are sweet and funny and a great dancer. You can get much better." Might've been the alcohol, might've been how tired she was of everything revolving around him, might've been the past grudges boiling upwards, but the gates were open and Rose could feel the verbal vomit coming; she couldn't stop herself. She even took a huge breath before going on her rant. "He's the kind of arrogant arse who thinks he's way more clever and charming than he actually is. In fact he's such a clown to everyone around him, including his own friends, that he cannot tell when they're laughing AT him. He's huge ego won't let him see the obvious."

He tried to intervene while she was pacing around almost talking to herself. "Whatever he did to you?" Now Scorpius was having a really hard time not reacting, but he had to hold it together if he wanted to learn where all of this resentment came from.

"He used….he uses people. If you come anywhere close to see what's behind his charade he will make an effort to make you believe you're crazy for believing he is anything else than the selfish bastard he is. Which of course totally confirms he is indeed a selfish asshole whose so dammed scared of feeling something real he will make you think you're special for five seconds to then humiliate you and push you away, until you're sure there's nothing special about you."

She paused to drown her drink. Rose suddenly remembered where and who she was with. This was a party, this was vacation, and this was a stranger who had no blame in anything, so she apologized by smiling at 'cheap cinderella' whose humor had turned serious, and seemed to be avoiding any eye-contact. The princess sat down in a log, gaze down, playing awkwardly with his white gloves. _Great, I made him feel uncomfortable._ She put herself together and slowly, peacefully sat down next to him, crunching her mouth, looking for the right words; she decided the truth was better than anything else.

"But this has nothing to do with you. I'm sorry. He just gets me railed up. My point is: you deserve someone great, because from what I know, you are great." She squeezed his hand and gifted him with a sweet authentic smile. Scorpius looked at her for a second, her sweetness, her honesty, her light; and then decided he couldn't take it anymore.

He stood up quickly and with a weakened more than a squeaking voice he said "I'll be back in a yiffy." He walked into the crowd, removing with anger his gloves as if they were burning his skin. Leaving a regretful Rose behind, smacking her own forehead wondering why she had to be so clumsy.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

_**I'm sorry for the lateness. Not sure how 'inspired' this one is. But we'll keep on going that is a promise.**_

 _ **Read, follow, review and enjoy please!**_

 _ **Love to all**_

* * *

Between the sea of people and the now packed party that had turned into a full-on rave after the surprise appearance of a DJ who everyone seemed to be very excited about(everyone muggle that is), Lily the mermaid with legs, was having a hard time founding her pirate prince; which was entirely Lorcan's intent. While he has trying to make a stealthy retreat, he encountered a lion with a crooked mane, who happened to be one of the two people he least wanted to see, and also his superior officer and long time friend. The guy was as ecstatic as he was drunk, for no one sober would've roared in his face.

"Grrrr! Mate, I have the best news for you!" Ted's hug came crashing down on Lorcan's shoulders.

"I doubt it," Lorcan whispered.

"What?! It's okay; after I tell you my plan you'll be speechless anyway." Ted was being too loud and too touchy for Lorcan's foul mood; which he seemed oblivious to.

"What plan?" the brooding 'prince' asked.

"Are you drunker than I am, mate? Why, the plan to sweep Lily of her feet and give her the most romantic proposal she could've dreamed? That plan? Remember?"

"You want to marry her now? AS EASY AS THAT?!" Lorcan fists were so tighten that they seemed to be the only thing pulling him together.

Ted took the mane off and stared at his friend with utter disbelief. "What in the seven hells are you talking about?! Me marrying Lily?! That's absurd…"

"Absurd? After the way you were touching her and laughing with her and…How could you do this to me?!"

Now Ted was offended, being accused of something so ridiculous sobered him up in a split second. "What have I done TO you? I was talking and laughing with Lily because she was helping me with my engagement to VICTOIRE, the woman I'm in love with and plan to marry and have actually being with for the past six years! Not Lily whom I consider my LITTLE SISTER, and I talk and laugh and touch her AS A BROTHER. I don't know what's got into you, mate, but you need to snap out of it."

That monologue and the imposing voice that Ted only used in missions brought some lucidity back. The fog Lysander had created started to fade and reality started to light up the path.

"I'm…I'm so sorry Ted. Merlin, what was I thinking? Merlin, what if Lily finds out? I've been stupid enough for one night, and I promised before we went away I wouldn't be so jealous. Please, Ted, please don't tell Lily what I….assumed…please." Reality was quite a hard drink to swallow, and Lorcan had gulped it down in one single shot: his anger quickly transforming into anguish and his envy into shame.

Ted knew he would forgive his friend and that Lily wouldn't need to find out about the misunderstanding, but he stared sternly at Lorcan long enough for the embarrassment to sink in.

When the now completely sober pirate prince was turning purple from holding his breath, Ted released the tension: "Fine, she won't hear it from me, as long as you promise never to assume such horrible and down-right stupid things again. In fact, don't assume anything." They sealed the deal with a quick hug and a pat in the back, just when the hurricane Scorpius had become appeared, ranting to himself and crashing everything in sight, forgetting all about his "princess manners" with an even fowler mood than Lorcan's.

"Yes that's it! She must've known that it was me, otherwise, why would she say such horrible things about me to a perfect stranger? Someone she just met! No! She had to know!" Scorpius had taken the wig off but he looked like a perfect lunatic to his friends, mumbling angrily to himself in a cheap dress, snickers and stockings. He couldn't care less, his mind was reeling faster than he could talk and he needed to say it loudly in order to make sense of it all. "But…if she knew it was me, then she was having fun with me, then she was complimenting me. Unless that was part of the trick….No No NO! I know her! She WAS enjoying herself! She truly was! Then how?...why?..."

Lorcan tried to tear what was left of the wig from his friend's fingers as if Scorpius was a rabid animal or a little child in the middle of a tantrum. "Scorp, are you alright, mate? You seem….upset?"

Seemed like the young Malfoy had just realized he had company, but not even that would calm him down; he needed answers. He grabbed his friend by the shoulders. "Lorcan…Lorcan! Am I a clown? A jester? Do I use people and push them away? Am I like that?"

"What? Ammmh…no? I mean no, you don't, you aren't. Where is this coming from again?" Lorcan stumbled through his answer.

"I knew it! You are my friend, you would tell me the truth. That means is her. Maybe she was projecting, because if there's anyone around here who pushes people away when they get close is her….only her….not me…no, sir. Not me. Never me. I'm a free spirit, care free, that's all. She must've misunderstand it." He chuckled and mentally decided that the last thing he would reflect on the subject would be a vow to get his due payback.

It was Ted's turn to question. "Who are you babbling about?

"You know, the usual suspect. She has ruined a great party, like she does." Ted wondered how much grinding the blonde auror's teeth could hold.

"So you found Rose…" Lorcan asked.

"Yeah…you could say that. She didn't know it was me of course. We had an interesting chat. She had fun throwing insults and slander at me as if I was a man in the line of shooting. She spat so much venom I might start calling her basilisk, though I wouldn't like to offend those poor creatures." He continued his verbal vomit, unaware of the funny faces his friends were doing to his back, ignoring the sound of boots getting close behind him. "Of course she wouldn't date anyone, she couldn't, there's not a man on this earth who could survive her darts. I wouldn't date her if she was the last woman on the planet. If she ever encounters a poor bastard ignorant enough to date her I will go to him and tell him: 'Do not be fooled by her name, lad, or her beauty….or her…wit, because I assure you there's nothing sweet about her.' No….a basilisk is not to blame, actually I would rather be in the company of a basilisk than that of Thorn Weasley."

Only when he finished his statement did he noticed his friends awkwardly looking at the ground; only then he heard a single heavy boot tapping the floor.

Lorcan and Ted waved at someone right behind him. "…Hi Rose."

Scorpius jumped out of his bones when he turned back and saw Rose standing right behind him, surprisingly grinning.

He unconsciously tried to reach for the wig and the big sunglasses again; not finding them, the only thing left to do was trying to act cool and unnerved. He posed, pursed his lips and combed his sweaty hair back with his fingers. His friends cringed, he wasn't fooling anyone.

Rose glared at him without losing the grin. "Lorcan, Lily's looking for you. Teddy, I'll see you at the house." She turned to Scorpius, reveling in the tense silence. "And you…." The former Gryffindor went through all the curses and hexes she had in hand, and decided it would be more entertaining to keep him paranoid; so she turned and walked away, apparating to the house without looking back.

Scorpius released a shaky breath. "Ted, Cap, please send me on a mission, whatever, wherever in the world, just get me out of that house. She'll kill me in my sleep if I stay there. You know that. Come on."

Ted laughed and patted Scorpius in the shoulder. "Scorp, after the great work you did you deserve some rest and recreation, where better than in this quiet town with your mates? No Scorp, I wouldn't want to miss the pleasure of your company." He kept laughing, while Scorpius' face got paler than usual.

Lorcan choked on his own giggle but was stopped by a set of freckled arms around his middle. He would've recognized Lily Potter's perfume anywhere.

"There you are! I've barely seen you all night."

Lorcan turned red and bashful to hold his girlfriend. "I'm sorry about that but I'm all yours now." They were instantly trapped in their love bubble. Lorcan was so ashamed at his own stupidity and jealousy, he spend the rest of the party making Lily felt like a true princess. Meanwhile, Captain Lupin kept teasing Scorpius about how even while insulting her he couldn't help to compliment her.

"That's the opposite of what I was doing!" The young Malfoy had chosen to drink his anger away.

"Sure, Scorp. Whatever you say." Lupin clang his red cup to his pouting friend's cup. He could puff and huff as much as he liked, but Ted hadn't become Captain by mere luck, he observed how his delusional friends were dancing and laughing earlier. Inspired by that single moment he concocted a plan; a prank that he was sure to entertain them all, and bring great happiness to those great fools.

* * *

Back home, Ted and Lorcan sat down on the porch making the most of the last buzz before going to sleep, or not sleeping at all if Lily was to be considered.

Ted sighed, this was not the Burrow nor his Granma's house, but the sense of peace and warmth he felt by having his family around was exactly what he needed.

Lorcan breathed the ocean's night in, he tried to cleanse from the poison he had drank earlier. He wanted to tell Lily, but the shame prevented him, after all, this wouldn't be their first fight about jealousy. And his girlfriend wasn't the only one whom he owed apologies.

"Hey Cap, I'm sorry for….earlier. I went a bit bonkers and you did nothing wrong, you were just helping me out and I'm….just sorry."

Lorcan would be forever grateful for Lupin's eyes, which hold no judgment. Without the need of a single word they decided to move on. "So…I never got to ask you if you thought of something for the proposal."

"Took you a while, Longbottom." The Auror's Captain sat a bit straighter and started gesturing largely with his hands, explaining his plan on creating a fairy tale out of their story and then having his friend go down on one knee and propose. They discussed it for a while and by the end of it two things were clear: they'll need the collaboration of the whole gang, everyone able to keep the secret that is; and they had to wait for James and Albus to get here, especially the latter since he had been the cupid behind the curtain.

"Albus would kill me if I don't wait for him." Lorcan chuckled at the memory. "You'd never think a bloke would happily help out his friend to get with his little sister. At least not everyone would. Then again, Albus is not everyone. The little shit."

"That he is, but I get it. He figured his sister was bound to fall for a jackass anyway, but if he could help to assure she was with the best jackass, there….everyone wins."

"Thank you?"

"You're not a jackass, that's not what I meant. The thing is…..I understand it. If you see two people who just make sense together, and you love them both, why wouldn't you help them get together?"

Lorcan nodded his understanding. Without intending to, Lupin remembered the epiphany he had while drunk, and surprisingly it turned out to be not just a drunken bad idea. "Like those two suckers!"

As if summoned, Lily Potter in pink pajama shorts and a Harpies Quidditch t-shirt snuck behind them. "Which two suckers?"

The two grown men squealed and the three of them laughed. Once they settled back down, Ted unto another glass of water, and Lily cuddling in Lorcan's arm; the captain continued: "Why, the biggest most stubborn suckers we know! Rose and Scorpius! We will make this vacation memorable by finally bringing them together!"

The lovers were amused but frowning with doubt. Lily was the first to point out the obvious: "As entertaining as that sounds, and believe me, I'm the first on the 'Scorose' ship; they do hate each other."

But not even the obvious would discourage Ted. "Everything between them has been a matter of bad timing…"

"….And insults." Lorcan added.

"….and rivalry." Lily commented.

Ted waved them off. "Let's call it: sexual tension."

The others shrugged in an unsure agreement.

Ted stood up and paced, not being able to contain his excitement anymore. "Do you remember how it used to be? Rose, Scorpius and Albus together, all the time, making pranks that rivaled the Weasley twin's. And Lorcan, you and I know for a fact that Scorpius fancied Rose when they were in school. But he was too chicken to do something about it, and then…."

"And then…he hooked up with that other Gryffindor girl, the same night Rose had decided to tell him about her feelings for him." Lily affirmed blankly as if this was universally known information and slurped from Lorcan's glass, accentuating the silence. At least for the two guys this was brand new information.

"WHAT?!" They both shouted and Lorcan stood up next to the shocked Ted.

"Shhhhh! you're gonna wake up everyone."

"Did Rose fancy Scorpius?!" Lily's boyfriend whispered loudly.

Lily sat down calmly; she couldn't believe they hadn't put two and two together. She had always thought Rose was pretty obvious. "Yeah, a lot. But as I said, when they started to get really close he went and snogged that girl in front of her, making it real clear that she wasn't special for him. They didn't speak for a while, to poor Albus' dismay, and when they did, it was all insults and snarls. That's the way it's been ever since."

Lorcan looked a little lost, so he sat back down while Lily tenderly patted his back. "Wow….that makes sense….how did we not..?"

She shook her head and shrugged.

Meanwhile, Ted laughed maniacally. "That's brilliant! Guys, don't you see it? We've got half our job already done!"

"What job?" the young auror asked.

"The job of getting them together! We just have to remind them what they like about the other."

"And make them forget what they hate about each other?" Lily pointed out.

"Yeah….piece of cake." Ted could sense he was losing the crowd. He squatted to level all of their faces. "Guys, they deserve to be happy. And if we can push them just a tiny bit in the right direction…. Agh! You know they will only be happy with each other! Who else is gonna keep up with Rose's fast mouth? AND show me one girl who Scorpius will respect enough to have a real conversation with?"

The crowd had turned, he had their attention.

Ted aimed for the last part of the pitch. "We will make family history! Bringing the Malfoys and Weasleys together? That's something not even our parents could pull off."

The couple glanced at each other. They were having a telepathic conversation with only their face gestures; proving to Ted and mostly themselves that they were still in the same frequency. They reached an agreement quickly, nodded in unison, and Lorcan said: "Ok, Cap. We're in."

"But tell me again how are gonna do this? What's the actual plan?" the Ravenclaw in Lily couldn't go on without an outline.

"Well…." Ted hadn't got that far yet, but he went on figuring it out as he spoke. "Most of their hate is based on the assumptions they have on what the other one thinks of them. So if we changed that…we'll change how they see each other. Huh! As simple as that! But we'll need help."

"I'm pretty sure I can get Molly and Roxanne to give us a hand." Lily smiled proudly.

"And I bet we can count on Louis." Lorcan said.

"Then it's set!" Ted finally dropped his ass on the porch, excited and playful for the next day. "If….when we pull this off, Cupid will be forgotten. We will be: The New Love Gods!"

The lovers mocked Ted sweetly but when he raised his glass to them, Lorcan clung his and Lily joined in with her fist.

* * *

Lysander couldn't sleep. The laughter kept him awake. He didn't care for the conversation, but before he left the party he saw Lily and Lorcan dancing, as if nothing had happened; nothing, not even a drink thrown to his face, or a shouting match.

He got up when he heard silence again. The party was over; they were all in their rooms. So he walked outside trying to make the beach a relaxing element, to no avail. An image of the happy couple sneaked in his mind, in their bed….his brother touching her and caressing her strawberry blonde bangs away from her face. He growled. Why was Lorcan more worthy than him? What made him more lovable? Why he couldn't be the hero? Why nobody could choose him for once? His reverie got interrupted by the body he had crashed against. He lifted his eyes from the ground to find his mate, Ned.

"Oi…you scared the shit out of me."

Ned who was almost a head taller than Lysander and had a very badly kept beard chuckled. "Are you brooding again?"

He answered with something between a growl and a sigh.

Ned drank from his beer. "Let me guess….Lilian Potter?"

Lysander glared at him and the cynic response of his friend was more laughter. "What you need, mate, is to get laid and get over her. You keep making yourself miserable. It's not like they're not other pretty girls around."

They kept walking until they reach a log in the beach and sat down.

This is why Lysander didn't have many friends, he'd never felt like they would understand him. "You don't get it. I don't want anyone else. I want her; she's the only person who's been compassionate and truthful with me in my life. That has to be true love."

"But she's with your brother…"

"Don't you think I'm aware of that?!" Lysander's exasperation led him to raise his voice. "She doesn't know any better. She's only being with him practically all her life. She's blind to see that he's not the shinning knight she thinks he is. He'll probably turn his back to her at the first chance he's got. If she knew that, she'll give me a chance." The last part of Lysander's speech was so deeply coated in hopelessness he even got the sarcastic Ned Zabini to feel for his friend.

"Well then we'll have to make her see who he truly is."

With a quick glance Lysander dismissed Ned. "You make it sound easy."

Ned had an epiphany. A lot of those seemed to be happening that night. "Not easy, but…possible. We would have to find a look alike and manipulate them to be in the right place at the right time, after that your stupid sibling would dig his own grave."

Lysander was tired and ready to finally go to bed. He stood up and turned to his friend. Something in his frenzied look, made him stay and listened. "What exactly are you proposing?"

Ned grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

_She's perfect. You can hardly tell the difference from behind_ , Lysander thought, while observing his accomplice setting a strand of copper red hair behind the girl's ear. She giggled; seem delighted by the tall and coarse man giving her his attention. A girl who to Lysander's surprise and fortune could very well be Lilian Potter's lost twin; as long as she didn't turned around that is, but was in fact her cousin Molly Weasley, a sensitive girl who had been crushing on Zabini for months now, trying to "bring him to the light side" as Ned often joked.

After a few minutes, he waved Molly away and the former Slytherin came to stand next to his friend.

"She's hooked," Zabini's arrogant grin couldn't be contained. "All you have to do is bring them to us at midnight. You're stupid brother will do the rest."

"Counting on that," Lysander said. But he wasn't fully comfortable showing off yet; he still had one burning question. "Why are you helping me? If we get caught you might get expelled from the Auror's program. What's in it for you?"

Zabini wouldn't engage in eye contact, but he did answer: "You're not the only one who has a problem with those 'perfect little soldiers'; mine just happened to be with our notorious leader. I'm sick of the nepotism that gave him that position and maybe…if he humiliates Harry Potter's own daughter….the leadership will go back to his rightful owner."

Knowing that not only was Lysander not alone in his desire for vengeance, but that he owed nothing to Zabini, finally inspired him to smile. "What are friends for?"

* * *

Scorpius' eyes were stung by the noon piercing sun waking him up from his nap at the side of the pool rather abruptly. He was nursing what was left of a massive migraine, slurping on sparkling water laced with a hangover potion. He didn't remember why he had dragged his hangover ass to this place, or even when he had managed to dress in a gray t-shirt, camouflage shorts and sandals. He turned his head as slowly as he managed and saw the red envelope, paper and his magical quill writing down his snoring. "Agh. No! Erase that, all of it. I'll start over."

The quill scratched the first lines until Scorpius grabbed the paper, created a ball of it and threw it over the green walls of the garden surrounding the mosaic edge of the pool. He took a new sheet and set it under the quill. He sat on the blue and green section that was just cool enough to be touchable by his hands. Dipped his feet in the water and slurped some more.

"My dear friend, Albus;" he took a deep breath and let the verbiage flowed. "Why haven't you got here yet? I'm in need of backup! Teddy is too busy reuniting with the Potters, your younger cousins are too busy pranking each other, Rose has been specially poisonus (I know you are close, but you also know how mean she can be)…and the worst one is Lorcan! Because the guy who used to mock the fools parading around Hogwarts with love letters and balloons and Honeyduke's candy, now is glued to your sister's face! When they're together the honey pours out of them, with their pet names and giggling and intense eye contact. Seriously, I'm sure Lorcan will need glasses from looking at Lily so close by the end of the summer. And when they're NOT together and you try to have a normal conversation with him is even worst! Because he can't concentrate, I think I've seen people at St. Mungo's more coherent than him. He doesn't sleep because he's attempting to write poetry for her. Lorcan! Lorcan writing poetry! Can you imagine! Our mate who never managed to finish any text books during seven years of school…writing verse! Let me tell you…is not a pretty sight."

He stood up, his pent up energy growing by the sentence. He paced around, splashing the waters from time to time with his foot, and continued:

"I reached out for Ted's help, but he only answered back with 'you'll understand some day'! Ha! I think not!" He pointed at the air, as if he had won an entire argument. "By logic alone, if I were to be the sappy kind of sod it would've happen already. I've met beautiful girls before and I'm just fine. I've met smart, funny, interesting women before…and I am fine. So there! If they want me to get weak on the knees and start composing songs, they'd need bring forth a woman who has everything, all of these and more qualities." He stopped to take the bottle like a microphone and continued his pacing. "Rich, she shall be; just so I know she has no need of what's left of the Malfoy fortune. Intelligent, otherwise I'd be bored out of my mind. Pretty, or I won't probably notice her. Easy-going, with a nice character; someone who won't throw things at me when we discuss. Loyal, someone I can trust; somebody who has great conversation and wit, humor is very important, and red hair just like…" the image his rambling conjured made him gasped so hard he coughed painfully before grabbing the quill and scratching with black that last line. "…humor is very important, along with a _**tamed**_ mane of hair."

The sound of cracking sand coming from the road that connected the house and the pool distracted him. Scorpius recognized Harry Potter's laughter, Ted Lupin's particular stride and the voice of the love-struck himself getting closer. He wasn't in the mood for the "love conquers all" team, so he grabbed his belongings and decided to hide behind a tall Greek column adorned with flowers at the right side of the pool.

"I'm still in shock. I can't believe it. It was there all along and we never saw it…" he heard Lorcan said.

The trio of men set camp at the grill and joyfully started to prepare it for lunch time. Scorpius' plan was to sneak behind the leaf walls, moving stealthily back to the house in order to avoid them altogether, but after three steps he froze on the spot.

The youngest man continued: "How could Rose hide her love for Scorpius for so long!?"

Frozen, was not necessarily what Scorpius was, but if anybody had witness his expression, that's how they'd described him. The only resounding words that Scorpius could think of were 'ROSE' 'LOVE' and 'WHAAAT' in a loop.

After a solid three seconds of utter shock, he realized he had missed what was said next, which meant he had lost vital information. The blonde wizard reversed his steps and duck behind a shorter patch of planters.

"Mate, are you sure? There's no way you heard wrong or…..?" Ted asked while setting the coal.

Lorcan responded, "Yes! I'm very sure, Lily told me. And trust me I asked for a repetition many times."

"But, if this has been happening for years now, why did we just find out?" Ted kept questioning.

' _Years now'_ the former Slytherin dropped his jaw wide open and pulled his platinum hair at the roots.

"Because, according to Lily, everything was brought back to life in this trip; think about it. They haven't seen each other for more than a few hours since they graduated. So now, is getting hard for Rose."

Scorpius peaked a little above the hatch and saw Harry stroking his spotted grey beard with confusion. "Is that why she keeps rejecting every single man who shows any interest in her?" Lorcan shrugged and Ted nodded. Harry sighed, "I had started to believe I wouldn't live long enough to see little Rose in love with anyone; least of all a Malfoy…"

The younger men frowned. Lorcan tensed his mouth and moved his tongue to remind Harry that Scorpius was actually listening. Ted did his best to keep the cut-throat/shut-up gesture as small and subtle as he could.

Harry pushed his glasses back, clearing his throat; he had understood the cue. "I mean, I like the boy, I've always had. But I constantly saw the two of them quarreling and shouting at each other, that's why I wouldn't imagine this."

Ted shrugged, "they do say that opposites attract. Didn't Aunt Ginny tell you how desperate Rose was getting, Uncle Harry?"

"She did?..." Lorcan and Ted widen their eyes at Harry. The penny took a second to drop. "She did! Yes! She…she found Rose writing love letters and…and crying over…over…songs; says she has done anything and everything to forget him, but…but… it's getting hard…er." Harry pushed his glasses back in place and hid his hands in his bermuda's pockets. He was not good at lying.

Lupin changed his weight in order to check if the platinum clump of hair was still crouched on the bushes, hoping he would catch even a glimpse of Scorpius' expression. And he would have, if the pause hadn't lasted to the point of suspicion. He turned to Lorcan whose face revealed he had forgotten his next line on the supposed script they've prepared. The pause was getting too long. Ted squeezed his forehead and improvised with the next thought that came to him. "Haaaas she ever consider….telling Scorpius how she feels?"

Lorcan grabbed the metaphorical line Ted threw. "Lily thinks that's the last thing she'd do."

"Why? If her feelings are so strong and deep, it'd be cathartic. And maybe if Scorp knew, he would behave differently. I don't believe he would be stubborn or stupid enough to be blind to the fact that Rose is remarkable." After the panic, Ted began to bring the ship (and the point) home.

They had decided that Lorcan was to play devil's advocate and he relished the chance. "Stupid? No; but blind or stubborn? We all know how Malfoy can get."

Scorpius got on all fours and if he could've prick his ears like a dog, he would've. The best he managed was to tilt his head and suppressed an exasperated and quite offended huff.

Lorcan continued; he loved to be the one who gave gravitas to the situation because he had tried for years to bring some sense into his friends' head. "I'm afraid if he found out he would make a sport out of torturing her, and she'd avada him _and_ herself for that humiliation. Can you blame her? Imagine being in love with someone who shows nothing but contempt towards you, who insults you and mocks you every time you met, but are unable to either drowned your feelings, or getting that person out of your life for good." The image of Lysander got clearer in Lorcan's mind on the last statement. "No wonder she's cranky. This is not the vacation she bargained for."

Ted caught the ball. "I still don't think Scorpius is dumb enough to ignore all of Rose's virtues."

Young Malfoy sat down and sipped on what was left of his infused sparking water like a scolded child.

Harry finally had the confidence to chip in. "Maybe I'm bias because she's my niece but she is incredibly smart, and witty. She's the best of both her parents: her Mum's determination, compassion; and Ron's bravery and loyalty. She's smart….in everything _but_ loving Malfoy." Now the General was actually starting to have fun with the charade. They all heard the scuff coming from their backs, with a heavy dose of spray of some liquid being spat into the air.

Lorcan added, "and she's pretty; prettier than most to the opinion of the whole clan." Ted couldn't wait to say aloud what he had seen for years between them: "Even beyond that, she's the only woman who can keep up with him, or even understand enough of his references to spit them back at him." He slowed down his words and forced his diction to land the point into Malfoy's thick skull: "She's his equal."

Scorpius' hand muscles stopped responding; he dropped the glass bottle on his toes and silently cursed the pain. _She was. She's always been._

They all took a deep breath for the dramatic pause.

Ted crossed his arms. "What if…. _**we**_ tell Scorp?"

"And give him power over her?" Lorcan sighed. "I love my friend dearly but he can be cruel and crass sometimes. What if he mocks her about her feelings and she gets hurt and it will be our fault. I don't think we should risk it."

The man who lived concluded out loud, "maybe the best thing to do is to let her cool down. The summer will be over and we will try to keep them at distance, give her time to get over him. They don't have to see each other ever again."

The glass was full for Scorpius. The cool and collected Slytherin prince broke sweat at Harry's words. To not see Rose ever again, to be so far removed from her life that would allow her to forget his existence; the idea felt like a curse: a stomachache that couldn't be healed, a pain that may never go away.

Lupin unconsciously put on her authoritarian tone for the very off-chance that Malfoy was not paying enough attention. "I just wish he had the humility to see he is the one not worthy of such an extraordinary woman."

A drop of rain fell in Ted's hand, joined by thunder and the sudden realization of the clouds getting closer

"Well, the grill is not gonna pan out. Shall we go back in?" Harry asked.

The three of them took the ice box, plates, and beers before heading back to the house. Once they were sure one side of the love trap was out of hearing distance, they giggled to their heart's content.

"Merlin! This was great! He _has_ to pay attention now," Lorcan gasped in the middle of their laughter.

Ted nodded emphatically and was struck by an idea. "We should send Rose to look for him before dinner!"

And the picture of these smartasses' faces confused by their contradictive behavior set them off into another fit of laughter.

Meanwhile Scorpius had melted away into the grass; arms and legs spread carelessly on the green, eyes wide, heart pounding and blood echoing in his head. He barely noticed the droplets hitting his face; it just didn't seem important anymore.

With the rain, a certainty washed over him and the epiphany that it was not an epiphany at all got him tingling and warm all over. Something he had known all along: if there was a chance, and if the three men were to be believed, there was indeed a sizable one, he would not waste it.

He stood up, faster than what would've been possible for any other hangover man, and paced while the rain soaked his head and shoulders. Scorpius reached for the paper and quill, destroyed the last message, again, and decided to start over once more. Of course he knew the water would ruin the paper but he had the urge to speak to someone, anybody, or everybody. Finding out an amazing witch was in love with you, was not an everyday matter, and getting to the conclusion that he himself was, more than likely, also in love with said witch; felt like the statement of a lifetime.

"This can't be a trick! They got the information from Lily, she would never lie about Rose's feelings. And even Harry said it. So it must be true!"

The rain started to get in his eyes; he rubbed it off without paying much notice. His mind was too busy to care, and his body too excited to be bothered by it, so he kept talking.

"They seemed to pity her for….loving me….huh ridiculous! To think that I would mock her for her feelings, I would never… ok maybe I would've once upon a time, but that's not me now. I cannot be proud," he swallowed his own words, "anymore. Not to her." And he realized saying her name was suddenly difficult. His tongue twisted in his mouth as if the word was new, and in a sense it was. The mere image of Rose Weasley, got him giddy and ignited a warmth in his chest that fought against the cool raindrops.

"It's true! She is beautiful and smart and loyal and she can kick my ass!" He caught his breath and exhaled. "She's the one!" A tied knot that had been part of him since the first time he saw her smile, snapped. "And she deserves better…..someone who can admit a mistake. Loving me will not be _her_ mistake because I will be horribly IN LOVE WITH HER!" He couldn't contain a shout on the last remark, a yell that wasn't heard by everyone in the house because nature accompanied it with a thunder.

He hurried to grab everything, including the mass of wet paper that was his first (but not his last) love letter. Though the magic quill was not working, he kept rambling.

"Everyone has the right to change their mind. With age and experiences come new necessities like the necessity to marry and settle down and maybe if she wants one day have some brats running around…after all: the world must be peopled."He caught the toothiest grin his faced had ever conceived with the fantasy of being a family man. On the verge of laughing like a lunatic he took a pause for breath. "When I said I'd die a bachelor, I didn't think I would live long enough to be married."

"Really? Now you find out that nobody really listens to you so you chose to spare us and talk to yourself?" a well-known voice behind him said.

He turned around and dropped everything again to find Rose in front of him holding an umbrella and raising one mocking eyebrow.

He tried to guess if she had listen in on his monologue, but there was no telling with her. 'As _smart and mysterious as ever'_ he thought.

She wrapped a yellow sweater with her right arm around herself and huffed at the dirt, the mud started to soak her sandals and feet. Rose threw a quick spell to clean herself with her wand, to no avail, which only turned up a notch her annoyance. She lifted her head and puckered her nose freckles at the sight of the 'always-suave-Malfoy' now dripping wet and mudded to his calves. Most annoying and frankly disturbing of it all: the split-facing smile that was so unlike him.

"Are you high on something?" she snapped but continued before he could cut in with an answer. "I don't really care. I'm just here because Aunt Ginny ordered me to tell you that dinner will obviously be inside and it's ready. So there."

She spun to go but Scorpius wasn't ready to let her leave. He spat "And I thank you…Rose, for your trouble." And to both their surprises he bowed. And with the attempt of that chivalric gesture the most awkward pause in their relationship ensued.

When it was unbearable, Rose _had_ to break it with the only probable explanation: "You _are_ high, or still drunk. If this had caused me any trouble, I wouldn't have done it."

Scorpius composed himself into what usually worked as a smooth posture. "Does that mean you take pleasure in the message?"

"Sure. I love to go out in the rain in sandals to look for a wanker." She rolled her eyes almost to the back of her own head."If you don't want to eat, suit yourself. Die of pneumonia for all I care." She turned and walked back, mumbling and cussing under her breath leaving Scorpius to quite cynically check her out.

After she was out of sight, he swayed, in the parody of a dance with the ramblings of infatuation spreading faster than fire. 'She said she _loved to go out in the rain to look for a wanker,_ but she meant **this** wanker,' he thought. 'Of course she followed it with an insult but how could she not? She doesn't know that I know, and that's how our relationship has always been. But even with her thorns, she is quite stunning, and she makes me laugh.' He was getting use to his own broad toothy smile. 'If I don't love her….I'm a fool,' the idea rang true to his soul, as true and definitive as a sniff of amortentia.


End file.
